Showing results for "Phyllida Nash" in Literature & Fiction

Sixty-one-year-old Maxine Sweet has a new life stretching in front of her. Her longed-for retirement is finally here and she's ready to enjoy it with partner Russell. With her best laid plans in tatters, Max has a choice to make – mope at home or spread her wings. And when a chance comes to bask in the French sun for a glorious month, there's only one thing for it. Suitcase packed, Max heads off to the Brittany town of Plouvannec-Sur-Mer – home of tempting boulangeries, breath-taking beaches, not to mention some rather fine looking men of the perfect vintage.

Five years after seventy-something Tess jetted off to Paris with her best friends, Jen, Rose, Della and Pam - the Five French Hens - for Jen’s hen do, a lot has changed. Prospective groom Eddie has been given the heave-ho, Tess’s husband has been sent packing and the Hens are making the most of their golden years. But Tess is stuck in a rut. Rather than embrace her independence, she watches on as Rose wows Paris, Jen explores Iceland and Pam heads to Greece. But when tragedy strikes Della, Tess is shaken into action.

When octogenarian sisters-in-law Sadie and Bronagh find themselves at the centre of a scandalous (and slightly explosive) bake-off fiasco, there’s only one thing to do – steal Sadie’s grandson’s gleaming red Ferrari and make a run for it. Sadie is the practical one, all cardigans and contingency plans. Bronagh treats rules as loose suggestions – especially if mischief or wine is involved. What begins as a quick getaway across Ireland soon spirals into a wild, cross-country adventure filled with fake identities, unexpected friendships, and more than a few brushes with the law.

Deep in the Somerset countryside, the Combe Pomeroy village library hosts a monthly book club. From a book club French exchange trip, to many celebrations at the farm, this is the year that everything changes, that lifelong friendships are tested, and for some of the women, they finally get the love they deserve.

When Lin, Josie and Minnie left Miss Hamilton’s class at Middleton Ferris County Primary School, sixty years ago, they could only dream about what the future had in store for them. The one thing they knew for certain was that their friendship would thrive. Years later and life hasn’t always been kind. Josie is still mourning the loss of her beloved husband Harry a year after his sudden demise. Lin is hoping to celebrate her fiftieth wedding anniversary with husband Neil, but he’s suddenly keeping secrets and telling her lies, so she’s suspecting the worst.

Stephanie Sandford, recently widowed, must tell her family the truth. But the past is indistinct and it’s complicated. First, there was her mum, who developed an anxious streak after marrying the wrong Reg. And then there was the young man from the dairy who gave Stevie swimming lessons before he broke her heart. War came, and four years chopping root vegetables in the canteen of the Sun Pat peanut factory on the Old Kent Road.